Lions in Her Heart
by aBraveNewShip
Summary: Emma and Regina's oldest daughter Daniela is in a dark place. At 16, she'd lived through more than any kid her age should have to. Now, it's finally catching her up to her. Doing things she never thought she'd be doing to herself, Dani starts to lose control. Can her parents get to her in time? Tumblr prompt. TW for self harm. Read AN Fits into the SwanQueen series I wrote.


**MASSIVE TRIGGER WARNING: This story deals extensively with self-harm and a near-death experience. If this is a topic that triggers you, it is now your decision whether you wish to continue or not. This storyline came from a Tumblr prompt about Emma and Regina's oldest daughter (in this case, Dani) partaking in dangerous acts. It's taken me several weeks to finish this, as I wanted to write it with the utmost respect and delicacy. I hope that I managed to do so.**

* * *

Nobody understood how hard it was to be the child of the Savior and the Queen. At least, that's how Daniela Swan-Mills felt. Even though she had four other brothers and sisters, Emma and Regina's oldest daughter was alone. She couldn't talk to her parents, especially when she was sure they wouldn't even get it. Henry, Storybrooke's sheriff, was off with Maya and Emilina— he had his own family to look after. Dakota and August didn't have the combined attention spans to sit long enough without getting distracted or without changing the subject. And Faith? Well, she was off with her new best friend-slash-their new aunt Red; somehow they always had something to talk about. While the rest of the Swan-Mills children seemed unbothered by their parents' legacy and the pressure that came along with it, Daniela wasn't so easily assuaged.

In all honesty, it wasn't just because of who her parents were. Dani'd been struggling for a while and most of the time, it had nothing to do with Emma and Regina. It was just… everything had changed so quickly. Ever since Henry brought Maya home for the first time, their lives had been a non-stop roller coaster: Henry getting kidnapped, his marriage to Maya, Faith's werewolf-ness, Captain Hook appearing out of nowhere and planting roots in Storybrooke— it had all just been too much too fast. Everyone else seemed to be doing OK, but Dani was having trouble. And no one seemed to notice. Or, if they did, they reasoned it to typical teenaged behavior.

When Henry went away to school, Dani became the oldest. The responsibility of watching out for her younger siblings transferred onto her. At first, she was too young to do anything. She could barely even tie her own shoes. But, as she grew older and as their family grew larger, Dani started to get the hang of it. With each new brother and sister, Emma and Regina's eldest daughter gained a little more maturity and a lot more wisdom. In fact, by the time she was 14 years-old, Dani was the most level-headed Swan-Mills, including her mothers. As she got older, the desire to protect her siblings grew stronger and the idea that they were, in fact, her responsibility gnawed at her. If one of them scraped their knee, she felt guilty. If one of them broke the house-rules, she lectured them before Emma or Regina found out. And if one of them had a bad day, she comforted them until they felt better.

For 16 years, the daughter that Emma and Regina had both seen in a dream did her absolute best. But at some point, her best stopped being good enough. After Faith turned into a wolf and after Emilina was born, Dani started wonder where she fit in their grand and infamous family. Henry was now a husband and a father, which took second to being a brother. Faith, the youngest of the brood, was now physically older than Dani, who used to help feed her and change her diapers when she was a baby. Emma and Regina were constantly juggling their roles as mothers, and the Savior and the Queen. Although Storybrooke hadn't seen any real danger in several years, the blonde and the brunette duo could never let their guard down. It wasn't always as obvious which role came first.

Nothing was the same anymore. Everything was different. Getting out of bed in the morning started to take effort. Paying attention in class was now a rarity. The idea of having fun turned into something that Dani dreaded; where she once used to look forward to family movie nights, she couldn't wait for them to end. Life turned into a task, as opposed to an adventure. The young woman no longer enjoyed the things she once did.

With the newfound invisibility that Dani seemed to have, she finessed her skills of hiding the truth and maintaining believable cover-ups. At 16, she'd had her powers for a fair amount of time. Magic had always come easily to her, especially when it came to potions. When she turned 10 and broke through the binding spell her parents had enacted, one of Dani's gifts was a book of magic that Regina had made for her. That day, the mother made a promise that when Dani was ready, she would teach her how to control her powers and how to use magic for good. And, someday, when the twins and Faith came into their powers, she trusted Dani to pass on the lessons. Six years later, Dani had never received formal lessons from Regina. Sure, there'd been moments of "Be careful when you do this…" and "No magic in the house…" But, most of what Dani knew, she'd taught herself.

Often, when everyone else was off doing their own thing, Dani would sneak off to the vault. Regina's protection charm over the entrance was strong, but not strong enough to block Daniela. There were days where she would just sit in the cold, empty room by herself. She stared longingly at the materials Regina had brought over in the first curse and wished that she could create something powerful enough that would allow her to disappear completely.

When things got really bad, Dani didn't just sneak off to the vault— she _fled_. When she wanted nothing more than to get away from everyone, the green-eyed, brown-haired teenager would lock herself in the crypt and unbury the knife she'd stolen from Gold's Shop around Christmas time. She didn't know who it had once belonged to and it didn't matter as long as it worked. It could have been Sir Lancelot's for all she cared. When things got _really_ bad, Dani would use the knife for purposes she wasn't proud of. And being the powerful witch she was, she could hide the evidence with a simple flick of her wrist: no scars, nothing to give her secret away. Sometimes, she'd whip up a quick potion and toss it back before returning home. It wasn't like this world's alcohol; it was much stronger. A little ogre's blood, a splash of fairy dust, and some crushed mint leaves made for one hell of a concoction. As it slid down Dani's throat and traveled to her stomach, the yellow liquid burned her insides. It stung like a thousand wasps, but she'd grown to push aside the discomfort because after a few minutes, she didn't feel anything. Not a single thing.

There were days where Dani reluctantly looked at her reflection in the mirror after a shower and was genuinely disheartened. Although, she didn't look any different on the outside; her shoulder-length locks were just as dark, her thin pink lips were pulled in the same tight line Regina used to wear, and her cheeks weren't any more or less sunken in than they had always been. But, she could see everything that was happening on the inside and that terrified her. She could see all of the harm that she was doing to herself and it sickened her, but she felt powerless. One of the most gifted young adults in the entire realm, the daughter of the Savior and the Queen, was powerless. There were so many things she wanted, so many things she wished she could fix. But the sense of hope that she had held onto for so long had vanished. Dani was stuck. She was drowning. And she needed someone to save her.

* * *

It was an accident. Dani hadn't meant for it to happen— not like this. She'd just wanted to get away for a little while, have some time to herself. The prospect of quiet and calm lured her to the vault. After everything that had gone down that Friday in late August, Daniela had had enough; she needed a break, to get away from it all. Between David's retirement announcement and everyone worrying about Emilina, who had the flu, the entire family was going crazy. All Dani wanted— all she _needed_ , was silence. That's all. Just silence. It wasn't so much to ask, was it? It's not like she'd planned to get caught.

Dani had everything laid out. She put the ingredients for the potion on top of the small concrete pedestal in the center of the room, ready to be mixed together at the end. The lid to the trunk was left open after she'd unearthed the knife from the beneath Daniel's overcoat. Regina didn't talk about him very much, but for Gods' sake, Daniela was named after him. She always felt odd hiding the weapon under the man's clothes, but hey, it worked for nothing.

Sitting on the ground with her legs crossed, her back against the pedestal, Daniela rolled up her left sleeve. Although she had no scars, she still insisted on wearing long-sleeve flannels in the summer. It was stifling, but no matter how many times Regina or Emma questioned her or badgered her, Dani's choice of fashion stayed the same. It served as a second skin of sorts; it was a protective outer layer.

Her fingers curled around the metal hilt, Dani stared at the reflection of the light along the side of the steel shaft. As she slowly angled the knife into position, her stomach tightened and she swallowed loudly. With on swift swipe, the blade made contact with her pale flesh and soon, her iron-grip on the dagger disengaged. The deed had been done. A single line, three inches in length, ran from the crook of her elbow to the middle of her arm; the stream of blood was double that size.

The release was instant. Like a balloon that had been popped, Dani's shoulders fell as she expelled the longest exhale. All of the resentment and frustration she harbored towards her family came flooding from her system in a pool of vibrant red, all pooled together on the floor. Her eyes fluttered open and she gazed down at the the drops of blood that trickled down her forearm, into her palm, and onto the cement below her. The rush of it all had come and gone, just in the blink of an eye. It was all temporary: the fleeting moment of freedom, the surge of adrenaline that engulfed her sorrow. None of it lasted. And that was the worst part.

Eventually, Dani let go of the small sword completely and let it clatter at her feet. She sat there for a few seconds and allowed the puddle grow larger as she bled more. In it, she could the faint traces of her own reflection: tired, weathered, desperate. Everything she despised about herself, was right in front of her. In an act of anger, Dani smeared away the pain she saw in her face, her hands now covered in the sticky substance. Breathing heavily, panting as if she'd just sprinted across town, Dani's vision began to blur. The room around her started to spin, even though she was sitting down. The familiar light-headedness that always came after hit her like a semi-truck, nearly knocking her over. She tried to stand, but her legs betrayed her and gave out. In one swift movement, Dani crumpled into a heap, her back flat against the ground.

Less than two seconds later, the door to the crypt swung open and let in a much-needed gust of wind. "Remember, dear, we want Emi to fall asleep, not turn into a flying monkey. We just need a spoonful of unicorn horn dust and—" Regina's firm instructions to her wife were cut short as she sucked in a sharp breath and her hand flew to her chest.

"Dani?!" Emma exclaimed, pushing past her stunned spouse. Like a stealth feline, the blonde leapt gracefully over the few steps and landed with a soft thud, scooping her daughter into her arms.

In an instant, Regina's heart had dropped into her stomach. Her eye scanned the room frantically, her breathing shallow and her knees shaking. It didn't take long for her to locate the knife that had been tossed to the side, a trail of blood that lead back to Dani stuck to the hilt. Regina's legs moved before she'd commanded them, carrying her towards Dani. She could feel a violent tugging at her gut the closer she got. Before she even hit the floor, her hands were out in front of her, glowing with the light magic she'd unlocked all those years ago. Without giving it a second thought, without any hesitation, Regina healed the severe wound, muttering to herself through gritted teeth until it worked. "No, no, no, Dani. Dani? Sweetie, please."

"What's wrong? Why's it taking so long?" Emma hissed, careful not to rock Dani too much. She noted the heavy bleeding and she knew it was getting all over her clothes, but that didn't matter. Not at all. "Stay with us, baby girl," Emma soothed. The young girl in her embrace had gone frighteningly pale. Her body was starting to lose its natural warmth and her lips were strikingly less pink than usual. "Regina?"

Her jaw set and her focus glued to the self-inflicted injury, the brunette mother continued to exercise every last ounce of power she had within her. After several more seconds, she watched in relief as the cut shank into nothingness. Unlike when Dani healed herself, Regina's magic left a scar. "Dani?" she whispered, brushing the hair out of the teenager's face, her heart pounding in her ears.

"Dani? Baby girl?" Emma tried. She grazed Dani's cheeks with her knuckles the way she used to when Dani was just a baby. She and Regina held their breath in anticipation, wracked with fear.

There was a slight twitch in the corner of Dani's mouth. Her nose crinkled as if she smelled something rotten. Soon, she stirred out of her comatose state, her head turning from side-to-side. Gradually, her eyes fluttered open and for a brief moment, she thought she was dreaming. She could feel Emma's strong arms around her, protecting her, keeping her safe. She could smell Regina's spicy perfume; it washed over her like a blanket, tightening around her as though it were giving her a calming hug.

But then, reality slowly hit Dani. This wasn't a dream. Emma really was holding her and Regina really was on the verge of tears. The moment had finally come. Her mothers had caught her in the most humiliating act.

"Moms, I—" Dani tried to apologize. She tried to tell them how sorry she was. She tried to explain to them that she hadn't meant for them to find her like this— that she hadn't meant for it to get so bad. She tried to assure them that she was ok and… No. No, that part was a lie. She wasn't a ok. She wasn't even close to ok. This was her chance. This was her opportunity to finally stop lying. She never thought she'd be so calm when the time came. With Emma and Regina's help, Dani found herself sitting upright, though she still leaned on Emma for support. Without realizing it, the young woman had skipped over the apology entirely and gave them the answer to the one question she was sure they wanted to ask. "I didn't try to kill myself," she promised. "I swear. That's not what I wanted to do."

Unable to look at either of her parents, Dani broke away from Emma, propped herself up against the wall that once contained hearts, and rolled down her sleeves. She was directly across from Emma and Regina, and she could feel the heat of their gazes upon her. Hugging her knees to her chest, she tucked her chin right behind them; when she inhaled, all she could smell was denim. The puddle of her own blood had yet to be cleaned and she stared at it, cursing herself for being so careless.

To most of the citizens of Storybrooke, Emma and Regina were either the Savior and the Queen or the [former] sheriff and the mayor. They had become beacons of hope, the leaders and protectors of the small town. They were the most powerful couple to ever exist; their magic was immeasurable. The woman born of True Love and the woman molded from darkness: the most unlikely duo. Somehow, they'd managed to not only survive the odds, but they thrived through them. Almost 17 years of marriage under their belts, five beautiful children, and a legacy neither one of them had asked for but had found pride in. In their time together, they'd learned a great deal about true meaning of love— after all, their children had been conceived out of True Love's Magic. And yet, after everything that they'd been through, after everything they'd accomplished, their children were the most important pieces to their lives. Emma and Regina were first and foremost two mothers. They would do anything and everything in their power to ensure that their kids were happy, healthy, safe, and loved. They would trade their legacy in a heartbeat if it meant saving their children, protecting them from even an ounce of pain.

It is because of that, that neither Emma or Regina reprimanded Dani. Not right then. As they sat next to each other, close enough to hear each other's beating hearts, the women were able to put aside their own fear and unease. Instead of yelling at Daniela for inciting such terror in them or for not thinking straight, Emma and Regina did the only thing they could think of: they listened.

When she'd had enough of the silence, when she started to get anxious about the lack of shouting, Dani mumbled into her jeans, "I didn't mean to scare you guys. I'm sorry if… I thought I had it under control." Blinking slowly, Dani expected for one of them to say something. But, again, they remained tight-lipped. "I'm not crazy. I'm _not_." she asserted, almost in a growl. "I'm just… forget it."

"No, please," Regina pressed softly. "We're here. You can talk to us." In her peripheral vision, she watched as Emma nodded gently, as if agreeing with the brunette.

Dani scoffed in a dark amusement, her lips parting just enough to see her eye-teeth. She hugged her knees closer to her torso and felt a slight tingling in her toes. She was starting to lose sensation in her legs, she was grasping so tightly. Even her knuckles began to blanch a bit. "What's the point? It's not like it'll change anything."

Fighting a numb tongue, Emma spoke up again. "We won't know that unless we try."

Dani tilted her head back an inch until she she could feel the solid wall behind her. She gazed up at the ceiling with such wonder, quietly thinking of ways to make it disintegrate. She had a feeling neither Emma or Regina were going to let her leave until they'd discussed what had just happened. No more running. No more hiding. It was the final hour.

"I didn't try to kill myself," Dani repeated fiercely. "But, like, sometimes… sometimes I just wanna disappear." Her own words echoed in her ears and she knew, there was no turning back now.

Ignoring the stabbing in her chest, Regina swallowed her anguish and replied with a simple, yet so complicated, question: "Why?"

"Why not?" Dani countered swiftly. "You'd know if you spent more than five minutes at home."

"Dani—" Emma's attempt at parenting failed miserably, as Dani cut her off before she could really begin.

"What? It's true. But, I guess not. Because, you're home almost everyday and you still have no clue." Finally, Dani summoned the courage to make eye-contact with Emma and Regina and as soon as she did, she instantly regretted it. Not only did she see the pain they were in, but she could see the despair they were both drowning in having just saved their oldest daughter from bleeding to death. But even so, Dani couldn't stop herself. They'd opened Pandora's Box and there was very little they could do about it.

"Then tell us," Regina begged of Dani. "Help us understand."

"That's the problem!" shouted Dani. Tossing her hands up into the air, she said, "You guys don't get it! And you never will!"

Struggling to her knees, Emma crawled towards Dani, but stopped dead in her tracks when the girl cringed away. Her long, golden curls brushed the cement floor as she paused mid-stride. "Daniela," she said sternly, "listen to us. What just happened can _never_ happen again. We want to help you. You're our daughter, we love you. But we can't do our jobs as your mothers unless you help us. You have to tell us what's going on and then we can work to make it better. Isn't that what you want? For things to get better?" Regina sat behind Emma, her nostril flaring as though she were trying not to cry. All she wanted, right then, was to wrap her arms around Dani, take her home, sit with her, hold her, and never let her go.

Leaning to her left, Dani slowly straightened herself out and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. There was an undeniable sense of sorrow in Emma's voice, as if even she weren't confident that Dani would open up. In truth, she wasn't; Emma had no way of knowing if she was helping or making anything worse. She'd never done this before and neither had Regina. They didn't know how to begin to fix this.

"I-I just wanna stop feeling like… like nothing I say or do matters, like _I_ don't matter. This- this helps me not feeling anything. It takes away the pain," Daniela said, peering down at the new reminder on her arm. She let her gaze wander over the knife that was still on the floor; none of them had been able to move it. As she glanced at her fretting parents, Dani was suddenly reminded of all of the anger and the self-loathing being their child had cursed her with. While they were busy tending to everybody else's needs, Dani had been the one to suffer. "You wanna know I want to disappear? Because then, at least I would actually be gone. I'm still here, but no one ever notices. No one ever asks what it's like to be the Savior and the Queen's kid; they all just say how amazing you are and how we've got big shoes to fill. Everyone brags about how good Henry is at being sheriff, how Faith gets prettier every day, and how funny the twins are. But me? I'm just Dani, the big sister. I'm always here, but it's not me they're seeing: it's the Savior and the Queen's daughter, or the granddaughter of Prince Charming and Snow White. That's it. That's all they ever say."

Emma heard what Dani was telling her, but she wasn't really listening. Not the way she thought she was. "Baby girl, they don't mean anything—"

"And you know the worst part?" Daniela asked, cutting off Emma once again. "It's true. I _am_ just the big sister. I always have been and I always will be. But, you know, I'm not even that anymore. It's like people forget that Faith is only 10 years-old." Dani's cheeks were bright pink and her chest rose and fell quickly as she tried to remain calm. Her mouth was becoming dry the more she said, but it didn't stop her, let alone distract her. She was finally getting it all out in the open. The leech that had been sucking away her spirit was finally being pulled off.

Falling back onto her bum, Emma noted how far she'd come from her previous position. Quietly, she hoped she could keep it up and get even closer to Dani if they kept this up. "You know that's true, Dani. You're so much more than that."

"I'm just… so sick of everything," murmured Dani, brushing aside Emma's comments. "I'm sick of being invisible. I'm sick of people acting like it's the best thing in the world to be the Savior and Queen's kid. I'm sick of having to act like everything's ok when it's not! Nothing is ok!" Choking up at the end, Dani pressed her palms to her eyes and sniffled loudly. "Just… just go away," she whimpered. "Leave me alone. You don't get it," she said again, though this time more to herself than to Emma or Regina.

"Dani, please—" Emma outstretched an arm in the hopes of reaching the girl. She didn't move too suddenly, as she didn't want to spook Dani.

"I said leave me alone!" Daniela shouted, swatting away her mother's arm. "I don't want you here! Just go away!"

Regina turned away immediately, suddenly overcome with shame and guilt. When Dani's voice cracked on her last word, something snapped in the mayor. Her eyes burned with the tears that would inevitably escape and her throat felt as if it were going to close up. Quickly, she scrambled to her feet and began pacing the room, beads of sweat forming at the nape of her neck and on her forehead. She pinched the bridge of her nose in hopes of postponing the waterworks, her other hand supporting her back. Before long, she won her internal battle and began to recompose herself. That is, until she saw what was laid out on the concrete pedestal. One glimpse of the ingredients scattered about and she knew what it was. It'd been decades since she'd thought of that potion, even longer since she'd made one. And just like that, the memories of a young, frustrated princess—imprisoned in a life she didn't ask for— drinking that same potion came flooding back Regina.

Glancing over at Dani, who seemed to be losing her own battle with tears, Regina gazed down at Emma. The blonde sat with her legs crossed in a pretzel formation, her muscular arms flexing unintentionally as she dug her elbows into her knees. Her chin was propped up on her folded hands and she never looked away from Dani. She waited patiently for her daughter; she understood this was something that couldn't be rushed. From this angle, Regina could see the faint scar by Emma's eye— the one she acquired that night all those years ago. It was then that Regina made another parenting decision.

As if it were only yesterday, Regina remembered every step to preparing the magical soup. It was as though her hands moved of their own accord: she crushed she needed to be crushed, squeezed what needed to be squeeze, and sprinkled what needed to be sprinkled. One by one, she tossed the additives into the vintage cauldron and waved away the smoke. When she'd completed the last step, she cautiously sniffed at the rising steam. It smelled just as she remembered it: a candy cane doused in kerosine.

Using the ladle that Dani had already set out, Regina scooped a serving into a glass vial, stuck on the cork-top, and shook the yellow liquid until there were bubbles. Checking to make sure it was mixed just the way it should have been, Regina strode over to Dani and offered the solution.

Having dried her cheeks and wiped her nose, Daniela merely gawked at her mother's offering. She was completely and utterly bewildered. "I don't understand," she muttered. "Why would you give that to me?"

"It's what you want, isn't it? It's what you were going to drink anyway, right?" Regina wondered.

Frowning sharply, Emma flashed Regina a confused expression. "Gina, what the hell are you doing?" She had no clue what the potion was or what it would do, but she had a terrible feeling it was dangerous.

Regina dismissed her wife's concern and kept her gaze on Dani. "17 years ago, I was pregnant… but it wasn't with you," she recalled, her tone firm and unwavering. "Your mother and I- we lost the baby. Not long after that, we had a dream. Our future selves had come to us with a message: never give up. They also came to us with a surprise: you. Both of us saw you. You, my love, look exactly as you did in the dream, albeit a few years older. At the time, neither of us believed it. We thought it to be a joke, something a new enemy had come up with. There is no way we could have ever imagined that it was real." Squatting down to eye-level with Dani, Regina steadied herself before going on. "You might have heard this before, but I don't know if you have ever truly understood it." Now sitting firmly on the ground, even closer to Dani than Emma was, Regina spoke only to her. "You were ours long before you were ever born. You have _always_ been ours, Daniela. From the moment we saw you in our dream to the moment you entered this world, you have been our daughter. You are part of both of us. Everything we are, good and bad, is in you." With a silent, consultive nod to Emma, Regina found the courage to continue. "We know you didn't ask for this and believe us, neither did we. We've grown accustomed to the societal norms of this world and this town. I suppose your mother and I forget that you're still so young; you shouldn't have to bear the consequences of who we are."

With great caution, Emma took advantage of the fact that Dani seemed to be engrossed in Regina's story and moved in on the two brown-haired women. "We know how rough life can get, baby girl. We know how easy it is to want to give in."

"It's not the same," the teenager rebuked promptly. "I'm not a foster kid or stuck in a castle," she replied. "I'm not you guys."

"You're right," said Regina with sympathy. "You're not us; you're you."

Dani shook her head somberly and blinked slowly. "I don't even know what that means," she said honestly.

Carefully, Emma made another attempt and reached out for Dani. This time, the girl didn't shrink back or cringe away. Emma held a finger under Dani's chin and tilted it upward. The mere contact sent a shiver down Dani's spine. "You're the granddaughter of Prince Charming and Snow White, and you're daughter of the Savior and the Queen. That will never change." Angrily, Dani turned away. But Emma didn't stop there. She turned Dani's face back towards them and picked up when she left off. "You're also Daniela Swan-Mills, the most mature, thoughtful, caring, intelligent, beautiful young woman who has a family that loves her very much."

Dani searched Emma's, quietly hoping she'd find something that resembled uncertainty or anxiety. She wanted to believe her mother so badly, but she was afraid to surrender even an inch. "Yeah?" she asked. "Did you even notice I was gone?" When Emma and Regina shared a split second of eye-contact, Dani scoffed and pushed Emma's hand away. "See?"

Regina let the glass vial roll from side-to-side her hand. It was as though she had a pair of dice and wasn't sure whether to toss them or hold them for a little while longer. The bubbles had dissipated and she could see traces of the mint leaves. The potion was losing its potency. She knew it and so did Dani. "I understand that you are hurting and I understand why you would want this," Regina said, gesturing to the small, glass bottle. "However, I know that _you_ understand that this won't fix anything; it won't make anything better."

"You're wrong," Dani remarked. "It's the only thing that does."

"Daniela, love, magic isn't the solution. Trust me, I would know. This may feel like the only way, but it isn't. There's _always_ another way. You just have be willing to find it," Regina said to Dani, though she was slowly realizing she could follow some of her own advice. "Now, as I see it, you have two options. You could take this potion and drink it, and have a few moments of freedom. Or, and this is completely your decision, or you could let your mother and I do our jobs and be there for you the way we should have been." Regina wasn't positive, but she was sure her heart beating was the loudest thing in the room. "What do you want to do?"

With both of her moms staring at her, Dani was overcome with a new sense of pressure. It wasn't the same kind that everyone else had placed upon it. She had placed upon herself. She didn't want to disappoint Emma and Regina anymore than she was sure that she had. However, she also didn't want to believe and trust Regina, only to end up back in the vault several days later. Dani wanted to change— she needed to. She wanted to get better, but she was just so tired of it all.

Having weighed both of the options given to her, Daniela finally came to a conclusion. Clenching her jaw and praying that she was doing the right thing, she very slowly straightened out her arm and reached for the potion. She saw Emma close her eyes and she heard Regina swallow in, what Dani assumed to be, defeat. After regaining most, if not all of her strength, the teenager rose onto her feet, followed closely by both of her parents.

Like Regina had previously done, Dani started to pace back and forth. Emma and Regina watched her walk up and down the room, waiting for the right moment to stop her before it was too late. Dani twisted her hands around the clear contained nervously, fully aware that now was her chance. Sighing heavily, she lifted the cork from the top and brought it up to eye-level. She wanted to. She wanted to so badly. The yellow drink that'd she'd ingested so many times before practically called her name.

Across from Dani, Emma and Regina had locked hands suspense. They'd never felt more helpless. Every little move Dani made, made them that much more afraid of what she was about to do. For Emma, the panic was even worse, as she still didn't know what the potion was. But, for Regina, her own memories still haunted her and; to think that her daughter was feeling the same hopelessness as she had absolutely destroyed her.

Dani contemplated the vial for a few seconds longer, though it felt like a few centuries to Emma and Regina. In the end, she did what thought she had to do. Without saying a word, Daniela took a step towards the pedestal, tilted the bottle upside down, and poured the potion back into the cauldron. And with a flick of her wrist, the metal pot and what was left of the ingredients vanished in a puff of smoke. She sent it somewhere she would never be able to retrieve the concoction. They could always find another cauldron.

Emma and Regina let out a relieved sigh in unison and both of them stepped around the podium towards Dani. But, it too much too quickly. She backed away from the women with her hands up, palms facing outward. Respectfully, her parents gave her enough space to breathe without feeling cornered. Dani's hands fell and she shoved them in her pockets just like Emma did when she was nervous. "I… I think I need you guys to help me," she mumbled, nodding slightly as if she were convincing herself more than them. "But, I think I need some time."

"Dani," Regina began with a heavy heart, "take all the time in the world. You will _always_ have us."

Still nodding, Dani's shoulders started to shake as she allowed herself to give in. Tears streamed down her cheeks and her nose ran with nowhere to go. She wasn't fast enough; every time she wiped away one teardrop, two more took its place. She couldn't stop herself. Everything escaped from where she'd so tightly packed it away.

Before she knew it, Dani was making her way to her moms. And before she could stop them, Emma and Regina tenderly wrapped their arms around her, both of them now crying as well. For the first time in a long time, Dani felt as though she was exactly where she belonged. Sandwiched between the Savior and the Queen, their oldest daughter had finally been saved.

And so, just as it had been the other dozens of times they'd made through hell, the road to recovery would be a long and arduous journey for all of them. Daniela and her mothers had a lot of lost time to make up for and they didn't want to waste and more of it. It would take months, years even, for Dani to ever really find peace in her life and in her role amongst the family, though it wouldn't be for lack of trying. She would eventually come into her own as a grown woman, even wiser than before and far more patient. As for everyone else, Daniela would later come to them on her own, when she was ready, and confess. She would assure them it wasn't their fault, inform of them about how much progress she had made, and tell them how she felt hopeful for her future. And that was the most important part: somewhere in all of this, Dani would once again find hope. This time, she never let it go.

* * *

 **For those of you who read this, thank you. I'm sorry if it brought up some stuff for anyone, but as I clearly mentioned in the beginning, it was going to be very serious. Yes, I know it's been over a year since I've written a story in the Swan-Mills family series I created. When the prompt was sent in, I thought it would fit perfectly with where everything left off. Thank you again to those who read this and I truly hope**


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